Are Banners and Signs Still Relevant for Advertising?

What are the Benefits of Using Banners and Signs for Advertising Your Business? Find out how to generate a great ROI on a low cost marketing medium.

In 2018, most people assume that banners and signs are outdated, when, in fact, they were never used more than they are today. A major part of this misconception stems from the fact that people assume that traditional marketing methods are somehow in contrast with digital business promotion and product placement. Not only is this false but also completely opposite to reality. Using banners and signs even billboards or other traditional advertising methods to support your digital marketing campaigns can boost the performance of both your online and offline business. Here are some examples of how this works.

1.    Great ROI

The first thing worth noticing about signs, banners and similar tools for business promotion is the fact that they have an incredible ROI. You pay for them once, put them on a display for everyone to see and reap the benefits for days, weeks, months and years to come. The majority of business signage doesn’t cost a lot of money and provides lasting recognition for your business and brand. This alone is enough to provide you with some incredible gains and a stellar return on investment.

2.    Simple targeting

Another thing you should think about is the targeting mechanism that stands behind these signs. You should never underestimate the efficiency of local marketing, especially when you take into consideration the fact that about 78 percent of local mobile searches end up being offline purchases. Unlike telemarketing and email marketing, this form of targeting is surprisingly non-invasive. People who aren’t interested in your offer and stand no chance at becoming paying customers can just safely ignore them, while those who do have at least some interest in your products are bound to pay attention.

A recent Forbes article goes into more detail about the benefits to local businesses utilizing a combined approach to location based marketing.

For mobile marketers, the time has come to better define and illuminate what data does in each situation — and what it can do for location-based campaigns at their best. Advertisers can combine local and location-based to further enhance their efforts. And, as they mature their location-data strategies and tactics in these ways, they see benefits.

3.    Sustainability

Sometimes it can be hard to see, but there is definitely a customer base interested in the use of Eco-friendly and sustainable materials for the production of advertising materials such as a mesh banner, or other marketing banners and flags.

One of the leading US based production facilities recently stated that,

“over the past couple of years, brands have been held responsible for their advertising strategies and tactics, which has created a movement for companies to help improve the environment. As a company that has adapted a sustainable method to advertising, your business will be contributing to making the Earth a much better place to live. Your eco-friendly advertising campaign can also inspire others to protect and improve the environment as well. Using “greenvertising” techniques in your campaign is a versatile method of promotion that is cost-effective.”

4.    Memorability

One of the best traits of banners and signs is the fact that they’re incredibly memorable. The human brain receives visual information about 60,000 faster than textual or verbal information; which means that people are more likely to memorize a sign than they are a slogan. Billboards are a great example of this type of effective brand repetition that passively targets consumers following the same commute every day. According to the rule of seven, in order for a person to become familiar with your brand (at least enough to make a purchase), they need to encounter it on seven separate occasions. In this way, they’ll do so day after day.

5.    A boost to your curb appeal

Curb appeal isn’t just important for selling homes it’s important for selling your services. In fact, a case study conducted by the University of San Diego School of Business Administration provided data collected from one local business owner that proved it was the building’s signage, not word of mouth marketing, improvements, or other advertisements, that attracted 10 new walk-in customers over a one week period. Out of those 10 customers, at least six sales resulted.

Just another point of interest; according to the SBA website, the cost-per-thousand, a common method used to measure the cost of reaching a thousand potential customers, is much lower for signage than other types of advertising, such as radio, televisions and newspapers.

6.    A potential for a repeat use

If you’re looking to really get mileage out of marketing dollars, then using banners and signs for your business is one of the best avenues. Sidewalk displays, window displays, sale banners and posters can all be re-used time and again to deliver eye catching messages to your customers. Taking it a step further many small businesses use pop up banners, backdrops and signage for multi-purpose messaging in store as well as trade shows and local events such as farmers markets.

7.    Great for live events

Speaking of farmers markets, portable signage and banners for live events makes it much easier to stand out and be unique by using branded signs or even hanging a banner in the back. In this way, you get to make your entire stand branded, without going through much trouble when it comes to accessorizing. Of course, it’s vital to have some promotional merchandise around, yet, in order to draw people in, you need to show something bigger, something that can catch their eye and compel them to come closer.

8.    A boost to your digital marketing

At the very end, banners and signs are remnants of traditional marketing and, therefore, deemed incompatible with digital marketing by some of the less seasoned marketers. On the other hand, you can use this technique to give your digital marketing efforts a boost by placing the URL of your website beneath the logo or company name. You can also place your social media handles on a sign, therefore encouraging people to engage with your brand on social networks once they reach home or target destination. Remember the part with local mobile searches? This is just one more way in which you can exploit that stat.

In conclusion

Banners and signs for advertising are surprisingly versatile tools of promotions and, as such, can be integrated into any industry or niche you’re currently engaged in. This versatility helps you out in many ways, seeing as how most other small businesses prefer to stick to a single method of self-promotion. So, by becoming present in more forms (signs, billboards, banners, promotional materials and digital formats), you’ll immediately appear more legitimate and more prestigious. On its own, this would be a reason enough to use banners and signs for advertising.